Voldemort's New Weapon
by MiZuKo2
Summary: the title IS the summary.
1. Hermione Gets Mood Swings

It was a quiet night at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had just called a meeting to gather all of the fifth years and higher into the dining hall for meeting ten minutes before dinner. As the Gryffindors walked down the halls, Harry, Hermione, and Ron slowed down a bit until they were near the end of the group.  
  
"What do you think this is all about?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I dunno," answered Ron, "but I think it has something to do with more privileges for the fifth years."  
  
"You mean like that permission slip we had to give to our parents?" inquired Harry. "They wouldn't allow us to look at that for it was a surprise."  
  
"Most likely."  
  
When the Gryffindors reached the dining hall, the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were already there. Unforunately, the only seats left at the Gryffindor table were the ones near Draco and his "chums."  
  
Ron groaned.  
  
As soon as the Ravenclaws came and sat down, Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"My fellow fifth years," he began, "you may be wondering what this meeting is about, for I have sent home with you all a permission slip in which only the guardian is allowed to read, and I have not mentioned it just a few months ago when school just started. Most of you probably know about the wizard city of Dragon Valley and its annual Dragon Dueling Tournaments. Well, they have allowed the fifth years and up of Hogwarts to come like how we did with Hogsmeade. We can begin trips just the weekend before the duelings, which is Saturday, tomorrow. The tickets are the same price, though: 5 Sickles. That is all I wish to speak of. Thank you, and happy eating!"  
  
The students present in the hall were excited that they could go see the tournaments live! Harry was a bit confused because he has never heard of a Dragon Valley or a Dragon Dueling Tournament.  
  
"What's this about Dragon Valley and Dragon Dueling?" Harry asked.  
  
Draco heard him and turned around. "Why, the city's famous for the things it has. But, of course, it is known only among REAL wizards." He shot a glance at Hermione. "And the Dragon Dueling Tournaments are what they are: dueling tournaments. People compete and duel with magic for the Dragon or Dragoness title."  
  
Just then the rest of the students of Hogwarts came in. Food suddenly appeared.  
  
"Food!" Hermione exclaimed.  
  
"I thought you were against anything made from elf labor," Draco said sarcastically.  
  
"Um...I was, I mean, I am," Hermione answered with a full mouth and shifting eyes. She swallowed the mouthful and hesitated a little before taking another bite. "Pass the gravy!"  
  
"Uh, okay," Harry said, a little awed at Hermione, too. She dunked the whole lot on her turkey and mash potatoes.  
  
"I find this weekend trips a little frustrating," Hermione with another mouthful, this time spitting food everywhere.  
  
"Geez, say it, don't spray it," Ron said, wiping his shirt off. "Why frustrating?"  
  
"Because (she swallowed) we'll miss all the fun stuff while we're gone."  
  
"Such as...?"  
  
"Work!"  
  
"It figures."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, nothing."  
  
Hermione shoves another mouthful into her mouth. "You just see me as a control freak, don't you?"  
  
"Everyone does."  
  
Draco breaks in. "I'd hate to admit this, but I agree."  
  
"Oh, shut up you dumbass," shot back Hermione.  
  
"Make me, and by the way, nice comeback."  
  
"Why you little..." Hermione plunges herself at Draco.  
  
Harry was daydreaming during this fiasco about the dueling tournaments and what kinds of things Dragon Valley would have. He kept wondering until Ron shook him.  
  
"Harry, you gotta watch this!"  
  
Harry turned around and saw Hermione fighting off Crabbe and Goyle as she pinned Draco to the floor with everyone saying, "Fight, fight." She kept at it until Snape put the Leg-Locking Curse on Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle but the Petrifying Curse on Hermione.  
  
"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Little Smartypants. Although I wouldn't have guessed it was you (he shot a glance at Harry and Ron), I would have guessed it was a Gryffindor. Ten points off for you."  
  
"But what about Dra-," Ron started, but Harry elbowed him. Ron turned to Harry. "What gotten into Hermione?"  
  
"I dunno," Harry answered.  
  
"She's gotten some pretty nice muscles over the summer," said Neville, who was seemingly admiring Hermione as she struggled against the hands that was taking her back the to Gryffindor dorms.  
  
"Neville!"  
  
  
The next day, most of the fifth years and up prepared to go to Dragon Valley. When they got there, Draco seemed to have told the truth. Dragon Valley DOES have everything there: from cultural restaurants, to entertainment theaters, to Madame Stoven's Cookery. They even had a giant arena where Harry figured the tournaments were to take place.  
  
"Well," Ron said, "where shall we hit first?"  
  
"I'd say the Around-the-World Restaurant, first," Harry replied, pointing to the Around-  
the-World Restaurant across the street.  
  
Around-the-World Restaurant was divided into numerous different sections, each representing a different culture with different pictures and artifacts of the culture. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at a booth at the French section. They had already ordered food (they were allowed to order food of a different culture than the one their sitting at) about a few minutes ago. As soon as the food appeared on their table, they dug in.  
  
"Oh geez," Hermione suddenly said. "I specifically ordered Spanish rice, NOT MEXICAN!!!!!" She stood up and threw the plate of Mexican rice at a passing waiter.  
  
"Hermione!" Ron and Harry chorused. They pulled her down.  
  
Near the back of the restaurant, the door to the kitchen was opened with an elf's head sticking out. He saw Hermione yelling.  
  
"Oh no, oh no, Wizzy bad, Wizzy very bad..." the elf (supposedly named Wizzy) said to himself. He started banging his head on the door. "Wizzy used Mexican powder instead of Spanish..."  
  
Harry saw Wizzy and ran over to comfort him. Ron was outraged.  
  
"What's your problem?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"You!" Hermione yelled back.  
  
"Thanks. Could you quiet down? You're making a scene."  
  
"I'M NOT MAKING A SCENE!" Now everybody was staring at her. She suddenly calmed down. "I d-d-don't really know what exactly my probem is. Something's going on with me.... it's driving me nuts...."  
  
"Of course something's wrong with you! You have mood swings at the weirdest times, which is all the time. You seem to be on crack or something."  
  
"You know about crack?"  
  
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"I figured that because you grew up in a wizarding family, you wouldn't know about drugs."  
  
"Drugs? What's a drug?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
Harry came back and sat down. "Geez, Hermione. You really killed that elf's feelings. I find that ironic."  
  
"Hermione said that something's driving her nuts. It's as if something inside is trying to take over," Ron said.  
  
"I didn't say anything about something taking over me," Hermione said, "but it is like that. How did you know?"  
  
"Educated guess."  
  
"You seem very incapable of educated guesses."  
  
"Oh, you be quiet."  
  
They left the restaurant.  
  
"Maybe some laughter will help," Harry suggested to Hermione. They headed for the Wizardo Theatre. Ron picked up a schedule.  
  
"Hey, they're having a comedian special with some guy named Gale in about five minutes. And it's free."  
  
They decided to go to the comedian special for the laughter. The place wasn't even half-filled, so the trio didn't have a hard time find any seats. As they sat down, a man walked onto the stage and sat on a stool.  
  
"So I was walkin' down the street when I saw a Muggle put a coin into a parking meter and just stood there," the man said, his voice magically enhanced. "I went up to the Muggle and asked, 'Why are you standing there for?' and the Muggle replied, 'I'm waiting for the gumballs to come out." The punch line drums played. The auditorium was silent except for a few coughs. Harry could see the man on the stage sweating. Someone asked, "What's a parking meter?"  
  
The man was literally drenched with sweat. "Uh, is the Voice Enhancement Charm working?" Everyone stared with boredom. "Um, ok. How 'bout another joke? Let's see..." People were leaving the room. "Ah, I know. There's this reporter guy, see? He didn't have a story to work on, so he decided to jump off a cliff. As he was about to do so, a man walked by and asked, 'Whatcha doing?' and the reporter answered, 'I'm gonna jump off a cliff cuz I don't have a story.' The other man said, 'Can I join?' and the other guy said yes. So as they were about to jump, another man asked, 'Whatcha doing?' and the reporter answered, 'We're gonna jump off a cliff cuz I don't have a story.' He asked, 'Can I join?' and the other guy said yes. This happened two more times. So all but the reporter guy jumped and the reporter guy said, 'Wow, what a story.'"  
  
More silence.  
  
"Geez, tough crowd. Another joke coming right up! Um...let's see. There's this Irish guy-" Everybody else that was left in the building stood up to leave. The man pleaded, "Please! Stay, stay! I have a wife and two kids!" By this time he was on his knees. "I beg you! This is my last chance to earn money!" Somebody yelled, "Go back to the streets, Gale!" and threw a tomato at him. "Oh boy...a smashed tomato for my family..." He quickly gathered the remains of the tomato.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Theatre quickly.  
  
"Now we know why that the show was free," Hermione remarked. 


	2. Hermione's Not Alone

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked along the streets of Dragon Valley. It was quite hard to see where they were going because there were so many people walking past them (think of New York). The trio didn't stop until a sign caught their eye: Madame Stoven's Cookery: Bakery, Brewery, Butchery, Eatery, Producery, Sweetery, and more... Actually, the "Sweetery" and the "Brewery" part caught their eye, so they went in.  
  
As soon as they sat down at a table, an owl zipped by, dropping a menu in front each person. The menu listed the drinks and the food they had, but it also mentioned that the produce, meats, and the candy were on the west side of the building.  
  
Harry looked around and recognized a voice. He saw Gale at the bar, evidently and literally drowning himself with Frisky Whiskey (strong for a human as butter beer was to an elf).   
  
"Another mug of that ...what's it called?" Gale asked with some difficulty.  
  
The bartender sighed. "Frisky Whiskey, sir. You already had ten jumbo mugs of it."  
  
"Your point?"  
  
"It's bad for your health."  
  
"And not giving me any more is bad for your business."  
  
The bartender sighed again. "Another jumbo mug or what?"  
  
"I'm in the mood for a lightning mug."  
  
"The mug that enhances flavor? Definitely not for you."  
  
"And 'out of business' is not for you."  
  
The bartender sighed once again. He filled the lightning mug with Frisky Whiskey and watched Gale gulped it down. Gale suddenly jumped out of his chair and sang, "I'm a Little Teapot" and fainted.  
  
The bartender said "Mobilus" with his wand pointing at Gale and took him out the back door.  
  
Harry, watching this, said to the other two, "I'm going to get us some butter beer." Ron and Hermione consented, gave him the money, and continued talking. Harry walked to the bar.  
  
"What did you do with that man?" Harry asked the bartender.  
  
"I took him to where we take our drunks," the bartender replied. "Out in the back until he regains consciousness. We have a lot of them these days, depressed, violent, and wacky."  
  
"Oh, well, okay. And by the way, I'd like three butter beers for my friends please."  
"Coming right up."  
  
Harry hurried out the back door to see Gale with some other guys. To Harry's surprise, Gale just woke up.  
  
"Gale?" Harry asked, "You okay?"  
  
"I guess," Gale answered back.  
  
"I wanted to asked you a few questions."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"Were you always like this?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like being desperate for money and jobs and your family's well being."  
  
"No. My self-esteem kind of went down the drain just a few days ago. Specifically Thursday."  
  
"That's just the day before Hermione changed..."  
  
"Who changed?"  
  
"Never mind that. Was it as if something took over your body?"  
  
"More like my mind. I started failing at my other job. The funny thing is that the night right before this happened, I had a strange dream."  
  
"What was it about?"  
  
"Why all these questions?"  
  
"My friend changed too. I'm kind of concerned for her."  
  
"Ah, a girl! Is she cute?"  
  
"Hell yeah! I mean no, no wait, kind of. I mean, depends."  
  
"Oh well. I dreamed that I was walking down a street to someone's house when suddenly a thick fog formed. I couldn't see a thing except a shadow. It got closer and it took the form of a man. Then suddenly, a magical whip like thingy shot from his head and wrapped me up. He spoke a few words and then I awoke."  
  
"Thanks. I gotta go." Harry ran back inside, grabbed the drinks, paid the bartender, and walked to his table.  
  
"What took you?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I had to talk to someone," Harry answered. "Tell me, the night before you had these mood swings, did you have a weird dream?"  
  
"Are you some kind of dream interpretator?"  
  
"Just tell me."  
  
"Fine. Yes, I did." Hermione explained her dream to Harry and Ron. The dream turned out to be like Gale's.  
  
"Something's going on," Harry concluded. "Gale had the same dream."  
  
"That comedian?" Ron asked. "He's a real loaf."  
  
"But he wasn't always that way!"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"Because I asked."  
  
"When and where?"  
  
"Just before I came back. And out back where they keep their drunks."  
  
"You asked some stupid guy about this?"  
  
"You should talk."  
  
"Be quiet. What made you think about asking him?"  
  
"I asked the bartender where he put him. He said there were more drunks than usual these days, violent and depressed."  
  
"How did that help you to conclude that Gale was affected?"  
  
"Hermione's violent and wacky."  
  
"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. She suddenly felt a jolt go right through her body. "I sense somebody weird around."  
  
"What?" Harry asked. He suddenly felt a pain in his scar. "OW! My scar!"  
"What's going on?" Ron inquired. Hermione slightly pointed toward a black-robed man who had just walked in. Harry was in more pain.  
  
"That's the man I saw in my dream," Hermione whispered. "I can tell even though he was hooded in the dream and he's hooded now."  
  
Harry was in too much pain to turn his head. The man finally left the room. He quickly shot a glance at Hermione and Harry before he opened the door.  
  
"The pain's gone," Harry said. "I need to leave this place."  
  
"Now?" Ron asked.  
  
"Right after buying some candy." 


	3. The Cause

Back at Hogwarts, Harry retreated to the Gryffindor common room and sat on the chair by the fire. Harry thought about the incident at the cookery.  
  
That man was quite interesting, he thought. Hermione said that that was the man in her dream and that she could feel it. But then my scar was hurting as soon as he walked in. Hmm...  
  
Ron walked in and sat down in the chair next to Harry's.  
  
"Whatcha thinking?" he asked.  
  
"About the man Hermione felt was in her dream."  
  
"Any interesting thoughts?"  
  
"Yes. My scar hurts only when something of Volde---You-Know-Who is around or happening."  
  
"So you're saying that You-Know-Who is behind all this?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"But why Hermione?"  
  
"I dunno. Maybe it's part of a bigger plan."  
  
"But why Hermione?"  
  
"Yeah, I was wondering that too. Why would anyone as low as Hermione be part of You-Know-Who's plan?"  
  
"I heard that!" Hermione's voice interrupted. "Get out of my chair!"  
  
"I got here first. And it's not personally yours."  
  
"Yes it is..." she paused and whispered something. "See?"  
  
Harry and Ron looked to where Hermione pointed. A huge and glowing "Hermione's Chair" was on the chair.  
  
"Oh come on," Ron said and removed the letters.  
  
"GET OUT OF MY CHAIR!" Hermione yelled and pushed Harry off the chair. She sat down in the chair and said, "The fire's so cozy. You should have gotten this seat before I had, Potter."  
  
"Before you had?" Harry exclaimed. "And since when did you start calling me 'Potter'?"  
  
"Since I have been acquainted with Draco."  
  
"DRACO?" Ron and Harry chorused.  
  
"Yes, Draco. He's really nice once you fit in to his popular crowd. He even trusted me with secret plans for something big. And I mean REALLY big."  
  
"Such as?" Ron angrily asked.  
  
"I can't tell you, but I feel nice right now so I give you a clue. The plans are hidden near the doorway of the Slytherin dormitories." She walked off.  
  
"I am really annoyed by these mood swings of hers," Harry said as he sat down on the chair he was pushed off of.  
  
"What do you think this plan is all about?" Ron asked.  
  
"I dunno. How big do you think it is?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "In Dragon Valley, I do remember see Draco walking from an alley and at the same time put something in his robe."  
  
"Did you see what it was?"  
  
"No, but I did see some man-shaped shadow way in the back of the alley."  
  
"It must be that dream man guy."  
  
"'Dream man guy'?"  
  
"Trying to make nicknames."  
  
"Hmph."  
  
"Maybe Draco holding plans of You-know-Who here in Hogwarts!"  
  
"Really? Let's not jump to conclusions. We're not really sure if it IS You-Know-Who."  
  
"The only way to find out is to look for it."  
  
  
  
It was night. Everyone was sound asleep, except for Harry and Ron. They quietly crept out the door, in the invisibility cloak, of course. When they got near the Slytherin door, they hesitated.  
  
"When Hermione said the plans were near the door," Ron whispered, "did she mean outside the dorms?"  
  
Harry suddenly blanked out. He hadn't realized the plans could be inside the dormitories. He heard a noise. "Quick! Hide!"  
  
"Um...Harry, you do realize we're covered with the invisibility cloak."  
  
The Slytherin door opened and out came Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"I'm really hungry," Crabbe whispered, "but do you really think it's right for us to go out at night to the kitchen?"  
  
"Sure, why not?" Goyle answered.  
  
Ron and Harry ran quietly into the Slytherin dorms right before the door closed.  
  
The Slytherin dorms weren't much different from the Gryffindors, just different decorations but otherwise, everything's the same. Harry looked around. "I think we can take off the cloak now."  
  
"The plans must be near door," Ron whispered.  
  
"That's what Hermione said, you halfwit."  
  
"Fine. That plans must be on the wall."  
  
"Or the floor."  
  
"Why the floor?"  
  
Harry pointed a corner. That area of the carpeted floor was a little raised. Ron looked closer. The carpet had a pattern, and Ron saw something out of the pattern: a snake.  
  
"Harry," Ron said, "this is your job."  
  
Harry kneeled by the snake and whispered "open" in "snake-ish."  
  
A square area of the carpet suddenly disappeared and a tall rectangular prism rose. On top of the prism was a goblet.  
  
"A goblet?" Ron said. "What kind of plan is that?"  
  
"You'll never know. There seems to be a little compartment on this side of the stand."  
  
Harry opened the compartment to reveal a bottle of water.  
  
"I'm guessing you're supposed to pour the water into the goblet." Harry poured the water into the goblet. Nothing happened.  
  
"Do you think Hermione lied?" When Harry said "Hermione," the water lit up around the edge and showed Hermione, sleeping in her bed.  
  
"Now we're talkin'," Ron said excitingly. "Let's see...Draco!"  
  
The goblet did nothing but remained showing Hermione.  
  
"I think the one who poured the water into the goblet can control it," Harry said. "Draco!"  
  
Hermione disappeared and Draco appeared. "Potter, die, die, DIE!" he said in his sleep.   
  
"Your relationship with Draco gets better every minute," Ron said sarcastically.  
  
"That I become more apart from him, yes, it is getting better," Harry answered sarcastically. "I just don't understand how this goblet is causing shifts in behavior and mind."  
  
Ron thought about it for a little while. He started reaching for the water when-  
  
"Ron! What are you doing?" Harry said.  
  
"I'm seeing if that I can manipulate the mind by touching the water." Ron touched the water, specifically Draco's forehead. Ron hesitated, and then went deeper. Now he could see what Draco was dreaming. "Amazing. I can see Draco's dreams and can change them with my mind. Let's see...Draco is dreaming of you, Harry. Yes, he's watching you go to the guillotine. But I'll change that. Yes, now he's at the guillotine. Oh darn!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"He woke up, but I can read his mind...uh oh."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's coming over here."  
  
"Quick! The cloak!"  
  
"How the heck do you get this stand to go down?"  
  
Harry said, "close" in "snake-ish." The stand went back down and the carpet reappeared.  
  
Draco walked in. He sat down on a chair. "What a nightmare."  
  
Ron snickered.  
  
"Who's there," Draco said. He slowly walked toward where Harry and Ron were when suddenly the door creaked open. "Crabbe! Goyle! What were you doing out there?"  
  
Harry and Ron took this opportunity to creep outside the open door. 


	4. Draco's Revenge

Ron and Harry were back at the Gryffindor common room to find Hermione sitting at the fireplace. She didn't see them for they still bore the invisibility cloak. Ron and Harry decided quietly that they keep the cloak on until they get to their beds.  
  
The next morning, it was time to go to Dragon Valley again. Ron and Harry decided to make the best of Hermione's old behavior while it lasts, which wasn't very long because Hermione went from her usual personality to the deranged one every few moments. The three stopped by a different restaurant (just in case someone recognizes them at the Around-the-World one), the Wand-erful Restaurant: Buffet, and Bar.  
  
"This pie is great," Harry said. "What kind is it?"  
  
"Cow pie," replied the refill guy.  
  
Harry froze for a moment. He looked down at the slice of pie.  
  
"It's not what you think," the man assured. "We call it 'cow pie' because we make the beef pieces in a cow shape."  
  
Harry relaxed but came back to their table saying, "I need to go to the bathroom to fix something. Ron, come with me." He dragged Ron to the bathroom.  
  
Harry locked the men's bathroom door. "Now we can talk about this goblet thingy in peace."  
  
"You think guys on the other side of the door saying 'Why the hell is the door locked? I need to pee.' Are peace?" Ron asked.  
  
"You know what I mean. Look, that goblet is a mind-controlling machine!"  
  
"And mind-altering."  
  
"Whatever. Look, the longer Hermione's and the others' minds are left altered, the more they become succumbed by the change!"  
  
"And--?"  
  
"We can just alter them back to normal with the goblet!"  
  
"We can't."  
  
"What? Why not?"  
  
"I tried altering Hermione back to normal, but I couldn't. I think that only those who know every bit of the mind-altered person can change them back to normal."  
  
"So the only person able can do that is himself (or herself)?"  
  
"Why the hell is the door locked? I need to pee!" a voice cried from the other side of the door.  
  
"Or maybe we can destroy the goblet!"  
  
"We don't know what that would do."  
  
"Maybe we should ask someone about this."  
  
"Like...?"  
  
Harry sat thought for a moment. The man on the other side of the bathroom door began banging on the door.  
  
"I got it! Sirius!"  
  
"You'd think he would know anything about that?"  
  
"I dunno, but it's worth a try." Harry ran to unlock the door. The man ran into a stall. "Let's go back to the table."  
  
By the time the table was within sight of Harry and Ron, they were surprised by what they saw: Hermione actually talking to Draco!  
  
Draco walked off just before Harry and Ron reached twenty feet of Hermione.  
  
"What was that all about?" Ron scolded.  
  
"He said that you took something of his," Hermione answered, "and he'll tell Finch or someone that you snuck out at night if you don't return it."  
  
Harry had a puzzled look on his face. I didn't take anything, he thought. Harry slowly turned his head to Ron; whose face was red and eyes were shifting.  
  
"Harry," Ron mumbled, "are you done with your food?"  
  
"Yes..." Harry answered. "Why?"  
  
"Because...run!!!" Ron took off. Harry sighed, took a last look at Hermione, and ran after Ron.  
  
"What did you take?" Harry asked after Ron stopped at Madame Stoven's Cookery.  
  
"Um...nothing."  
  
"And I'm sure that small lump sticking out of your robe is nothing, too. Show it."  
  
Ron slowly opened one side of his robe to reveal...(drum roll, please)...the goblet. Ron gave an innocent smile.  
  
"Why the hell did you take that?"  
  
"Uh.........it's a present for you! Surprise!"  
  
"The bottle?"  
  
"Yeah...I have that too, but it works with natural water."  
  
"And you know that, how?"  
  
"I tried it with water from the river as we were crossing it over to Dragon Valley."  
  
"Oh, geez. Well, do you want to send that message about the goblet, now? I saw a 'Rent-an-Owl' building about a block away from here."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Harry and Ron walked over to the "Rent-an-Owl" building.  
  
Dear Sirius,  
  
How's it been? Good? Well, I need your help.   
You see, my friend Hermione has changed into a   
violent person. Ron and I have discover that   
a goblet had caused it. How can we get her back  
to normal again?  
  
From,  
Harry  
  
"How's that?"  
  
"Good. Send it."  
  
Harry put five knuts into a slot next to an owl and gave the letter to the owl. "Send any message back to Hogwarts." The owl nodded and flew away.  
  
  
  
  
Harry lay awake in his bed. He felt something was going on at the moment and that it was near. He got up to see if Ron was awake.  
  
Harry noticed a tiny light from the curtains draped from the bedposts of Ron's bed. He whipped the curtains open.  
  
Ron was sitting up with the goblet in his lap and his hand in the water.  
  
"Ron!"  
  
"Harry! Hi...what are you doing awake?"  
  
"I wanted to see if you were awake and I can see that you are. What are YOU doing awake?"  
  
"Um...nothing."  
  
"You're just altering Draco's dreams again, aren't you?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"Draco's face is in the water and your hand is in his forehead."  
  
"Oh, yeah, that. Well, I suppose you're going to take the goblet away from me."  
  
"Damn straight! Right after I get to alter his mind! Gimme that damn goblet!" 


	5. More is Revealed

"Boring!" Hermione said in the Potions Class.  
  
"Hermione! Shut up!" Ron whispered.  
  
"Make me."  
  
"Five points taken from both of you Gryffindors," Snape yelled.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Hermione," Ron said in a mean tone.  
  
"What did I do?" Hermione asked innocently.  
  
"You got us to lose ten points!"  
  
"And that will be twenty each if you don't be quiet," Snape threatened. "Now, moving on. Amberleed is essential to what potion?"  
  
Harry remained quiet during the entire time though he wasn't paying attention to a thing Snape lectured on. He thought about Hermione and all the others' condition.  
  
"POTTER!"  
  
Harry snapped out of his thoughts and looked in the direction the voice came from.  
  
"I've been asking you the same question three times, already, Potter," Snape scolded. "The least you could do is to LOOK LIKE you're paying attention."  
  
"Sorry, Professor," Harry apologized. "What was the question?"  
  
"What is the most important ingredient needed in the Long Range Normalizer Potion?"  
  
Harry didn't remember Snape saying anything about that, but he answered the first thing that came into his mind.  
  
"Natural water."  
  
"Correct. Now, where can you find natural water?"  
  
"Rivers, seas, lakes, oceans, anywhere as long they were naturally created."  
  
"Correct again. Today we'll be reviewing the potion we learned about two days ago..."  
  
Harry realized that the Long Range Normalizer Potion was probably the opposite of the goblet's purpose.  
  
The lunch bell rang. The owl Harry sent out the day before dropped a letter on his plate.  
  
"Who's it from?" Ron asked.  
  
"Sirius."  
  
"Open it!"  
  
Harry tore the seal off and opened the letter.  
  
"Ahem. It says:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I have heard of such a goblet. It's known as the Shao Mai Goblet. It was accidentally given the feature of the ability to change one's mind.  
The only way to change any victim back to normal is to have the victim change himself through the goblet OR use a Long Range Normalizer Potion in the goblet by pouring it into the goblet water (while it's in use.).  
  
From,  
Sirius"  
  
"A Long Range Normalizer Potion?" Ron exclaimed. "That's a hard potion to make."  
  
"It's also the potion Snape asked me about."  
  
"Hunh?"  
  
"Snape quizzed me about the most important ingredient needed in the Long Range Normalizer Potion."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I really don't know, but I answered, 'natural water' and it was correct."  
  
"Well, counter potions always use at least one of the ingredients used in the opposite."   
  
"Ron, natural water is the ONLY ingredient used in the Shao Mai Goblet."  
  
"What goblet?" Hermione's voice came out. She was right behind the two.  
  
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed. "How much did you hear?"  
  
"Just the Sho Mi whatever goblet part."  
  
"I can see that you're back to normal," Harry said.  
  
"Normal? Why, I have ALWAYS been normal, Potter."  
  
"I take back the 'normal' part," Harry muttered.  
  
"Replace it with, 'your deranged self'," Ron remarked.  
  
"I heard that," Hermione said. "I'm going to see some other friend." She walked off.  
  
"Where's she going now?"  
  
"To see her friend," Harry answered.  
  
"Her friend is Draco?!"  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"Ooklay overay owardstay ouryay ightray."  
  
"Why are you speaking in pig latin?"  
  
"I just felt like it."  
  
Harry "ookedlay overay owardstay ishay ightray" and saw Hermione whispering something to Draco.  
  
"I think she heard our whole conversation about the goblet."  
  
"Really."  
  
"Well, Draco IS giving his glare to us."  
  
"So?"  
  
Meanwhile, as Harry and Ron were talking, Draco watches them for about ten seconds and resumes eating.  
  
"Thank you Hermione. You may leave the table if you wish. Your spying is over for now." Draco said to Hermione. He muttered, "I thought you were the one behind the disappearance of that goblet, Potter. I'm sure we'll be meeting sooner or later, one-on-one. I will not allow you to disrupt my plans this time."  
  
A sharp pain suddenly slashed through Harry's scar. 


End file.
